Bon Jovi leaves Mercury Records after 32 years

I told you Burning Bridges wasn't about Richie Sambora. :)

And today there's been confirmation that Bon Jovi has split with Mercury Records:

"It is the end of an era," says the singer just before taking the stage for a show with his sideband, Jon Bon Jovi & The Kings of Suburbia at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada.

The news comes one day after the release of Bon Jovi's "fan album," Burning Bridges. The record, he explains, is a collection of songs that was meant to accompany the group's upcoming 12-show tour of Southeast Asia, but in reality, it was something more, he said.

"[It fulfills] a commitment to Mercury Records," he tells Billboard. "After 32 years, we have parted ways. That is the big news. If you listen to 'Burning Bridges,' the song, it is clearly spelled out."

Read the rest of the article on Billboard.

We don't know whether Bon Jovi's going with another label or if they're releasing the next album independently (although they did sign a new management deal with Irving Azoff earlier this year). But hopefully everyone can now calm down about the non-existent attack on Richie.

"Controversial" new Bon Jovi album Burning Bridges out now

Bon Jovi's latest release, Burning Bridges, has now been released around the world.

Here's the tracklist if you haven't got your copy yet:

1. A Teardrop to the Sea
2. We Don't Run
3. Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning
4. We All Fall Down
5. Blind Love
6. Who Would You Die For
7. Fingerprints
8. Life is Beautiful
9. I'm Your Man
10. Burning Bridges
11. Take Back the Night (bonus track - available on the Japanese version and the Walmart edition in the US)

We know that at least some of the songs were written for previous albums and didn't make the cut. Here was Jon talking about Burning Bridges at a fan club gig just after Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning first dropped.



He said "there's no band stuff, don't look too deeply, it's not that" and now I think I know why. Many people have interpreted the title track as a parting shot at Richie Sambora. To me, it seems obvious that it's a dig at the record company. Especially since the band has done virtually no promotion for this album (Bon Jovi's Facebook page hasn't mentioned the album once), and Jon has downplayed it as a contractual obligation whilst insisting the "real album" is coming out in 2016.

What do you think?

Here are the lyrics (or a pretty close approximation, since we haven't seen the official lyrics yet):

Sayonara, adios, auf wiedersehen, farewell
Adieu, goodnight, guten abend, here's the last song you can sell
Let's call it Burning Bridges, it's a singalong as well
Ciao, adieu, goodnight, guten abend, play it for your friends in Hell

Someone shut the lights off, turn the page, the stories I could write
I’ve seen a million faces and I've lived a couple lives
Here’s our history for all to see, the smiles and all the scars
First the rising, then the falling, call this chapter Shooting Stars
(Must sound good from where you are)

Sayonara, adios, auf wiedersehen, farewell
Adieu, goodnight, guten abend, here’s one last song you can sell
Let’s call it Burning Bridges, it’s a singalong as well
Ciao, adieu, goodnight, guten abend, play it for your friends in Hell

Oh, check the box, yeah, mark this day, there's nothing more to say
After 30 years of loyalty, they let you dig a grave
Now maybe you could learn to sing or even strum along
But I'll give you half the publishing, you're why I wrote this song
(Everybody, sing along)

Sayonara, adios, auf wiedersehen, farewell
Adieu, goodnight, guten abend, here's one last song you can sell
Let's call it Burning Bridges, it’s a singalong as well
Hope my money and my masters buy a front row seat in Hell

Ciao, adieu, goodnight, guten abend
Play it for your friends in Saint-Tropez

The two lines that give away the real target of this song are "Here's one last song you can sell" and "Hope my money and my masters buy a front row seat in Hell". Richie doesn't sell the songs, and he doesn't own the masters... but the record company does.

You can stream Burning Bridges on Spotify if you don't have it yet. How would you rate the album? Do you have a favourite or least favourite song?

Lyric videos for Blind Love, A Teardrop to the Sea, I'm Your Man

Three more songs from Bon Jovi's upcoming Burning Bridges album have been released in full. Watch the lyric videos below.

Bon Jovi - Blind Love (Lyric Video)


Bon Jovi - A Teardrop To The Sea (Lyric Video)


Bon Jovi - I’m Your Man (Lyric Video)


Check out the lyric videos for We Don't Run and Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning.

Listen to 30-second previews of all the songs from Burning Bridges.

Are you looking forward to Burning Bridges? What's your favourite song so far?

Lyric videos for We Don't Run & Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning

Lyric videos for "We Don't Run" and "Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning" -- the two songs we've heard from Bon Jovi's upcoming release Burning Bridges -- have been uploaded to the band's VEVO channel on YouTube. Check out how close or how wrong we were about the words. :)

Bon Jovi - We Don’t Run (Lyric Video)


Bon Jovi - Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning (Lyric Video)

Jon Bon Jovi talks about Burning Bridges

Jon Bon Jovi was interviewed by Scott Shannon about the new album. He describes Burning Bridges as a "fan record" made up of unfinished tracks from previous album sessions. It's basically being released to accompany the upcoming Asian tour whilst the 2016 album is finished. Jon is clearly much more excited about the 2016 album and tour cycle than this one.

He's also excited about the studio version of Reunion -- the song he wrote for Rutgers graduates and touched on his friendship with Republican Chris Christie (even though he's a notable Democrat supporter).

Listen to the interview here.

New Bon Jovi song We Don't Run

A few days ago I posted about the surprise new Bon Jovi album Burning Bridges, and the first song we heard, Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning. The song was catchy enough, but nothing we hadn't heard several times since 2000.

The other new song that Billboard mentioned, We Don't Run, just dropped. And it's different. Listen to it here.

What do you think? Not sure when this song was written, but it reminds me a little of Unbreakable (bonus track from Have a Nice Day), Undivided (Bounce), and something else.

Here is my attempt to transcribe the lyrics. Feel free to correct me. There's one line in the chorus that is certainly way off, and probably other bits too.

(EDIT: A lyric video for We Don't Run has now been released so I've updated the transcription below to the official lyrics.)

Take a look around you, yeah the sky is falling
Sinners say your prayers, this train is off the tracks
Nothing is forever when tomorrow's calling
Dancing with the devil to get one day back

Not afraid of burning bridges
'Cause I know they're gonna light my way
Like a phoenix from the ashes
Welcome to the future, it's a new day

We don't run, I'm standing my ground
We don't run and we don't back down
There's fire in the sky, there's thunder on the mountain
Blessed each tear and this dirt I was born in
Run, we don't run, we don't run

Take me to the banks of your muddy water
Where the flesh and blood and the spirit meet
Only takes your touch for me to find salvation
You're the only reason that I still believe

Not afraid of burning bridges
'Cause I know they're gonna light my way
Like a phoenix from the ashes
Welcome to the future, it's a new day

We don't run, I'm standing my ground
We don't run and we don't back down
There's fire in the sky, there's thunder on the mountain
Bless each tear and this dirt I was born in
Run, we don't run, we don't run

(Fire in the sky, there's thunder on the mountain)
(Fire in the sky, there's thunder on the mountain)

We don't run, I'm standing my ground
We don't run and we don't back down
There's fire in the sky, there's thunder on the mountain
Bless each tear and this dirt I was born in
Run, we don't run, we don't run

We don't run
We don't...
(Fire in the sky, there's thunder on the mountain)

New Bon Jovi album Burning Bridges coming out in August + new song Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning

At the time of writing this blog post, there has been no announcement about this on Bon Jovi's website, Facebook page or Twitter. However, several websites have reported that a new Bon Jovi album, Burning Bridges, will be released in a little over a month's time on August 21, 2015. And Jon's brother Matt did tweet this:

@eddie73rocks new album

— Matthew Bongiovi (@TheMattBongiovi) July 18, 2015

Here's what Billboard had to say:

Bon Jovi is releasing a special fan album leading up to its overseas fall tour, Billboard has learned.

The band is releasing two new tracks not even one month before the Aug. 21 release of their new album, Burning Bridges.

A spokesperson for Bon Jovi tells Billboard: “Burning Bridges, which will be released August 21st, is an album for fans and will accompany an upcoming international tour. The band is hard at work on their next album, which will see a full-scale release in 2016.”

The first track -- “We Don’t Run” -- is written by Jon Bon Jovi and Grammy-winning producer John Shanks. An anthem in the Bon Jovi tradition, the tune features meaty production and a shredding guitar solo by Shanks. Shanks has a long history with the band, having produced What About Now, The Circle, Lost Highway and Have a Nice Day.

The song leads off with a driving drum beat and a chain-gang chorus before Bon Jovi gets down to business with a gritty vocal throwing down the gauntlet as he sings, “Not afraid of burning bridges/ 'Cause I know they’re gonna light my way/ Like a phoenix from the ashes/ Welcome to the future, it’s a new day!”

The second -- "Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning" -- is a happier, more romantic, bright pop song with a hooky chorus featuring the lyrics “Saturday night gave me Sunday morning/ Opened my eyes and it’s a new day dawning/ Think I might have pushed my luck a time or two/ Everything about us is what gets me through.” It's classic Bon Jovi and sure to inspire a big sing-along on the road.

Credited to Jon Bon Jovi, John Shanks and former guitarist Richie Sambora, the song -- released internationally on July 16 -- was written previous to Sambora’s departure from the group.

While the band's live dates kick off overseas on Sept. 11, fans can catch keyboardist David Bryan in a solo headlining spot Aug. 29 at the Rock the Farm event at Regan's Hollow Farm in Farmingdale, New Jersey.

I'm not entirely sure what "a special fan album" means (Outtakes from previous albums?) or why we've heard about it from everyone but an official Bon Jovi channel. And if John Shanks is playing a "shredding guitar solo", then perhaps guitar duties on this album are being shared between JBJ, Shanks and Bobby Bandiera. That's only a guess obviously, but I'm not sure how I feel about that. And if they're including songs that Richie co-wrote, it's likely he also recorded them at the time, so have they re-recorded his guitar parts and backing vocals and/or removed him from the mix? So many questions, so few answers.

Phil X is apparently taking this Blackbird Pedalboard with him on the upcoming Bon Jovi Asian tour, though, so presumably he's still the go-to live guitarist for the foreseeable future.

Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning premiered on Austrian radio a day ago. Listen to it here. What do you think of the track?

This was my attempt at transcribing the lyrics. I'm pretty sure some of them are wrong so please feel free to correct me! :)

(EDIT: A lyric video for Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning has now been released, so I've edited the transcription according to the official lyrics.)

I was living my life like a long lost weekend
Never felt nothing, jumping right into the deep end
I wasn't missing nothing that was ever worth getting
Never hung around enough to regret it

You came walking in late but just in time
You ended my excuses with a ten cent rhyme
Your shoes and attitude were stacked way up high
I knew right then you were the story of my life

Oh, Saturday night gave me Sunday morning
Opened my eyes now it's a new day dawning
Think I might've pushed my luck a time or two
Everything about us is what gets me through
I never thought I'd hear the church bells ringing
I never learned the song this heart was singing
No regrets, I took that step and I'm still falling
Saturday nights gave me Sunday morning, yeah

When you're driving down a street that's only going one way
When every day starts feeling like a month of Mondays
You should know I still got something left to prove
Know what it takes to get back to you

Oh, Saturday night gave me Sunday morning
Opened my eyes now it's a new day dawning
Think I might've pushed my luck a time or two
Everything about us is what gets me through
I never thought I'd hear the church bells ringing
I never learned the song this heart was singing
No regrets, I took that step and I'm still falling
Saturday nights gave me Sunday morning, yeah

Remember those nights staring out at the lights
Making time with our feet in the sand
Making up words to our favourite songs
Laughing loud with those drinks in our hands
As that boy put his head on her shoulder
She pulled him tight to get a bit closer
And as the world just disappeared
You whispered in my ear

Oh, those Saturday nights gave me Sunday morning
Opened my eyes now it's a new day dawning
Think I might've pushed my luck a time or two
Everything about us is what gets me through
I never thought I'd hear the church bells ringing
I never learned the song this heart was singing
No regrets, I took the step and I'm still falling
Saturday nights gave me Sunday morning, yeah
Sunday morning